Consider: Post-canon Zuko wakes up in the body of his childhood self, the morning of That War Meeting. Would he still speak against the plans, knowing his fate? What do you think he would do differently the second time around?
"Turned away at the doors, Zuzu?"
"Shut up, Azula," her brother sulked. But sulked weirdly, after staring at her too long and too wide-eyed, not like she'd surprised him but--
But like he hadn't expected her to be there. At all.
He turned away. ...He turned back. "Hey, Lala? Do you think you could help me practice that one set?"
He didn't meet her eyes.
She narrowed hers. "Which set?"
"The one I'm bad at."
She scoffed. Pushed away from the wall she'd been leaning against. "That's all of them, Dum-Dum."
He didn't shout or stomp or yell about the nickname. His lips twitched.
"It's okay," he said. "If you're afraid you won't be a better teacher that my instructor..."
It was the most obvious manipulation ever.
Perhaps if he proved an adequate firebending student, she'd work on his courtly survival skills next. Honestly, it was good that not even Uncle Gets-Cousins-Killed had been fool enough to take Zuko into that war meeting. She could only imagine how terribly that could have gone.
"Keep up," she said, and turned her steps towards the training grounds.
He did. There, and during the katas she ran him through.
Azula kept her eyes narrowed.
"Hey," he asked, "do you know how to bend lightning yet?"
As if he could have missed it, if she'd been able to get more than sparks. "I will soon," she said.
"You will," he agreed, and flowed through his next set. The one she'd only just mastered.
Father didn't notice how weird Zuzu was being. Uncle never noticed anything. Zuko ate dinner and asked a servant for seconds and didn't stutter or flinch or lose his appetite when father asked, coolly, what he'd done with his day. Azula's shoulders tensed, because one mention of how she'd squandered her own training time teaching him--
"Azula hogged the training grounds. For hours," Zuzu scowled, exactly like a petulant thirteen year old.
Exactly like he hadn't been acting all day.
By the time Father was looking her way, Azula had her usual smirk in place. "I'm sure there would be room for both of us," she said, "you're not afraid of a little friendly fire, are you, brother?"
Zuko sulked. And ate his seconds, like he was enjoying each bite. There was something in his eyes, like a joke no one else was getting.
---
Father died that night. A heart attack. There were the faintest of burns to either side of the treacherous organ; the royal physician hypothesized that he'd grabbed at his chest, fingers burning hot in his final moments; so hot they'd only exacerbated the problem.
The royal physician would never have been brought any victims of lighting strikes. Those that occurred in the capital did not generally require a doctor in the aftermath.
Zuzu ate a hearty breakfast.
He didn't order seconds. Azula gave him points, at least, for not being tacky.
---
The sages named Iroh as regent.
They named Zuko as Fire Lord.
"No," the tiny Fire Lord in his perfectly miniaturized Fire Lord robes said, sitting at the head of his war council. "We're not doing that. And I'll be reviewing all recent battle plans, as well. What's this I hear about a division of new recruits being deployed to the front?"
He did not mention how he'd heard of the 41st Division. No one asked.
"Prince Iroh, surely--" one of the generals tried to appeal.
The young Fire Lord's regent was looking as startled as the rest of them, for a moment. Then he sipped his tea, and smiled.
"Your Fire Lord is correct, of course. A change in our leadership--a change the other nations may mistakenly view as weakness--will necessitate a change in our strategy."
"Now," said their lord, "what, exactly, is our overall objective in this war?"
War, the new Fire Lord decreed, was not an end unto itself.
---
The new Fire Lord continued to have time, to pretend to be trained by her. Azula watched him. Adjusted her footwork. Did not tolerate, and was not offered, any commentary on who was teaching who.
"What did you do with my brother?" she asked, as they flowed from one set to the next. As her hands, poised to throw fire, just so happened to be pointed his way.
He missed a step. It didn't look like an act.
"I'm, uh. Right here?"
She didn't bother to dignify that.
He didn't bother to look worried about her hands, one movement off from a true attack.
He looked around, then grabbed her sleeve, and tugged her further from any walls that may hide ears. The royal family's private training grounds were wonderfully large, and wonderfully open.
"It's me," he said. "It's still me. Just. More of me? Longer of me?"
She narrowed her eyes. A familiar expression, by this point. "Explain."
"...I found the Avatar," he said. "And this is definitely his fault, but--but I guess it started at a war meeting, when I was thirteen."
Azula listened. It was a very Dum-Dum story.
Could u elaborate more on what u said about how dick is the linchpin of dc?
Sure! People refer to Dick Grayson as the linchpin of the DCU largely because of this quote:
“Just in terms of links to other characters, though. Dick has so many connections to other characters. In many ways, even more than Superman or Batman, Nightwing is the soul, the linchpin, of the DCU. He’s well respected by everyone, known to the JLA, the Titans, the Outsiders, Birds of Prey – everyone looks to him for advice, for friendship, for his skills. He’s the natural leader of the DCU. His loss would devastate everyone and create ripples through the DCU.” - Phil Jimenez
For context, Jimenez is one of the people who worked on the Infinite Crisis comics. This quote is from one of the interviews where he (along with other DC creators like Geoff Johns, Eddie Berganaza, and Jeanine Schaefer) explain why it wasn’t a good idea to kill Nightwing off in those comics, despite Dan DiDio’s plans to the contrary. It’s interesting to hear everyone’s perspectives, you can see more of the interview here.
But yeah, as Jimenez describes, Dick is connected to pretty much every single hero in the DCU. Have you ever heard of ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon’? Because you could easily play that game with Dick lmao. Many of the JLA see him in a motherly/fatherly way, since they were at the very least there when he was Robin. At the most, these older heroes, Superman in particular, actively had a hand in raising Dick into the man he is today.
In addition, he is very close friends with his generation of heroes because he formed the Titans. That alone gives him connections to so many people: Donna, Wally, Garth, Roy, Kory, Vic, Gar, Raven, Joey, etc. But it doesn’t even stop there! He often acts as a mentor to the next generation of heroes as well: specifically Tim, Kara, and Conner come to mind. And he helps out the Birds of Prey. And the Outsiders. And the Batfamily. The amount of characters he has influenced and interacted with is frankly a little ridiculous.
The Brave and the Bold (2007) #15
Dick had such a great reputation, and so many people trusted him because a) he had worked with them before and had proven his mettle b) he had been a leader for a team they were on or c) he had mentored them. Like, not to say he was universally liked, but. Even when people hated him or disagreed with him, they usually respected his skills and expertise. And he kind of acted like the bridge/commonality between the old generation and the new:
Teen Titans (2003) #6
He used to be considered such a capable and valuable member of the superhero community…which is one of the reasons why it is so frustrating to see how he is treated in the newer comics/continuity. But really, I am only scratching the surface here on why Dick is considered to be so important. This post by @theflyingwonder goes even further into detail. They also explain what the fallout for Dick’s death should/would have been considering his connections, it’s worth a look.
i saw someone say that every time gojo lets himself be human, he ends up getting punished
... hello???? i was having a good day??
I feel like Dick and Damian definitely do regard each other as father and son to a certain extent but in a way that is so tied to Bruce's "death" that they'll never actually say it. Damian will just keep referring to Dick as his Batman, a role that has only ever meant father to him, and Dick will refer to Damian as his Robin, a name that has only ever meant son.
Trying something new, would love feedback/comments?
Nightwing belonged to the Graysons and to Haly’s and to the NTT and to Clark! Nightwing is a Kryptonian mantle that Clark gave Dick - to the person Dick Grayson; to a man he’d know since he was a kid, who Clark trusted with his life, with his son’s life. To Clark’s ‘multiverse constant’, who said Clark taught him ‘the meaning of selflessness and heroism’. Who would always love Clark, Clark who grieved Dick’s death even after JokerSuperman in jest killed his soul, Clark who was overjoyed to discover Dick’s death fakedundone, who hugged Dick after his Ultra-ego hurtkilled him, Clark, who gave love that didn’t hurt to receive. Nightwing belongs to Donna, to Kid Flash, to Roy and Garth, to Lilith and Raven and Victor and Gar and Joey, to a top heavy tower and life amidst budding gods. Nightwing belongs to Kori, to open skies, and freedom heavily sought and fiercely guarded. To Dick Grayson.
Nightwing, God of Rebirth, belonged to the kid who built a life from broken bodies and a strange, cold city, who picked himself up after countless arguments and a door afist slammed in his face, who re-opened the door and blamed himself for noticing the dent. Who smiled when he heard whispered, half awed, half bitter, ‘he will not bend; his will exceeds his reason’ because if his death meant his team would be safe, how could that be anything but good? Nightwing belong to the boy who loved his teamfriendsfamily with everything in him, who scrounged together the last vestiges of himself to hold off the grim reaper while they lay captive in its path. It belonged to the boy who was replaced, who got back to his feet after losing the love of his life to duty and misfortune, who shouldered the blame as easily as he flew.
Nightwing was the man whose other half died for him; who broke, whose friendsfamily scattered to the winds, whose brotherinarms loved him enough to creating a new teamnotfamily. The man who, when the Gods disappeared, lead the Titans to bring them back. Who rose to his feet each time: when his past burned down, and his present exploded for having known him; who fell on a sword meant for another, and tarnished, brought together a corrupt, thankless city only for it to be snatchedexploded at the very last second by a man he considered foereluctantallyfrie-FOE. Who considered giving in, only to be saved by care finally returned. Who found the love in harshness, and saw the love in duty and under a stiffquiveringatthestateofhisgrandsonsoncharge upper lip. Who rose just as the ground disappeared from under him. Who pulled on a cowl hateddreaded, stepping into the hole in the cave; who smiled under a barage of hissed insults from a childbrother? and avoided the friendsbrotherssisters he yearned so dearly for. Who tried not to cry when the hole in his life refilled only to tear wider with brother gone. Who looked into the mirror, face creased by loved ones lost and lost love, lined with guilt and grief, and saw a straight back, unbowed shoulders and bright eyes.
Nightwing IS Dick Grayson. No one else.
A lotta y'all be writing Dick as this terminally lonely man with no friends like 3/4s of the DCU isn't fighting over who gets to be his emergency contact
luffy’s colours being white & red and zoro’s colours being black & green is so perfect to me.
white and black, they directly link to lightness and darkness. it relates to luffy’s relation to the sun god, his angelic gear 5 form, his vastly kind personality and unburdened joy. whereas that darkness relates to zoro’s sinister fighting style, ‘king of hell’ and the demonic references integrated from the beginning of his character to present. his capability for deadly aggression and more serious tone.
yet contrarily we have red and green. red, the colour of blood and fire, passion and warning, it is boldness as a colour, and often used in a way to represent urgency. like luffy, his goal steers his everyday, he is driven and determined, terrifying and powerful. his gear 5 red eyes sting in the memories of enemies, luffy is boldness and passion. and we have green; peace, nature and luck. zoro and his passiveness, his gentle relationship with the people he loves, his tendency to sleep through the day and protect when no one is awake. zoro has a distinct softness to him that, in my mind, is best described as mundane tranquility. zoro is green like grass swaying in the spring time breeze, he is peace.
they are opposites, they are two halves of a whole. where luffy is light and heaven, zoro is sinister and demonic. where luffy is danger, zoro is peace. they fit like a jigsaw, completing each other, while it is the fact they are opposites that allows them to fit so seamlessly.
luffy’s light and zoro’s green interact on a personal basis, gentle and happy, heaven and peace. luffy’s red and zoro’s darkness meet on the battlefield as unstoppable and terrifying allies, danger and hell.
their associated colours intertwine as perfectly as they do as characters, i really love it so much.
i like dick best when he's stylistically handsome and not just... a man who is handsome. does that make sense? i don't want the usuals that combine to make the average handsome man. i don't want the regular european niceties that create a man you'd pass on the street or see on tv and think handsome. dick should be stunningly normal guy handsome. there should be a certain style or fashion about him that makes you look back, take a second look. you should see him and recognize that there's something there, something eerily beautiful, but by the time your brain processes this, he's already turned the corner, or his face is looking a different way, or he's just out of sight. there should be something in his essence that does make you want to look but also something that's a bit hard to grasp in the second he's in your view. there should be something there that lingers in your brain, like some kind of hauntingly ethereal after image
I get winded by the fact that Dick and Damian fully expected to spend their foreseeable futures as Batman and Robin only for Bruce to come back and have them separate early. It was just a year but also it was spending every day and night together for a decade that just. Didn't come. Instead, Dick will tell Damian he wanted to adopt him and give him his parents' trapeze bar or Damian will feel threatened by Dick potentially having another child and try to hold onto him with all his might. It's a never ending game of chicken, both of them constantly flinching towards a future they'd already accepted, but being so insecure of what they mean to each other now that it didn't happen that they can only ever talk around it. It's clawing at someone you lost but they haven't left you. It's 'you belong to me in a way that you can never belong to anyone else but you're not mine'.
Do you think Zoro has ever looked at Rayleigh and felt his insides freeze from fear? Do you think he sees a version of his own future where despite everything he’s tried, despite all the blood he’s shed and would go on to shed, his captain would still slip away from his hold — and he’d be left adrift for the rest of his days, drinking to oblivion, alone, bereft of any and all purpose?
Or do you think Zoro would be filled with contempt instead, and disgust at how the peerless Dark King failed to save his own captain’s life, even though it was no fault of his? Do you think Zoro, possessing the stubbornness and bravado of a much younger man, would insist that if it were him, nothing — absolutely no man or force in the universe — would be strong enough to rend him from Luffy’s side, and if Luffy had to die like Roger had to die, that Zoro would simply follow him to the afterlife?
Or do you think perhaps he’s unable to picture it at all — a life without Luffy’s warmth — so he ignores the many parallels between them and avoids contemplating the matter entirely? Perhaps he rather pities Rayleigh, because the former right hand man of the Pirate King should be free, but Rayleigh will never again know the meaning of the word, haunted as he is by a ghost he can’t bear to exorcise.
Nobody notices anything. So, there's nothing to notice, right?
Even Cass doesn't notice anything when she sees him. He's the same old Dick Grayson. He smiles and jokes. Of course, he's a little irritated about being in the mansion for no reason other than the fact that they had to meet at least once every few months, but he's fine.
Damian updates him on his school, and Dick rolls his eyes and grunts in between comments, knowing that the already outdated education system even in his time remains exactly the same now.
Tim asks his opinion on some programs he's developing. He may not be as good as Barbara's, but Tim knows Dick will easily spot the mistakes he doesn't after having read the lines of code five hundred times. Dick notices the errors just as he thinks (when you are learning the code for the first time, it is easier than when you have it in your head and recite it by heart rather than read it).
Only God knows why Jason is still there—maybe it's the food, maybe he's waiting for something. They barely speak to each other so as not to start fights, but they joke around, which is enough to keep the atmosphere comfortable.
Cass asks when they'll cook together again. Duke wants to join in this time.
Everything's fine. There's nothing wrong with Dick.
They decide to train before everyone goes back out on patrol in their places, Dick and Jason will soon disappear from the mansion and won't return for months, so why not?
Everything is fine, Dick is still joking around with them. There's nothing wrong.
Until the first moment he steps into the training area, he suddenly kicks a mannequin so hard that it literally breaks its neck and the doll's head flies off.
Oh... He's angry.